The Gift of a Lifetime
by Aquile Storm
Summary: Ichigo has been giving Rukia her birthday gifts ever since she started coming here; five years ago. She loved every single one of them. And it gets better each year. This year, on her birthday, he isn’t there to celebrate with her. Or is he? IchiRuki


Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine! Never!

A/N: My tenth story uploaded!! Woot! :D :D A plot bunny bit me hard. So this came into a one-shot :) By the way, the italicized words are Rukia's written thoughts in her journal, the day before her birthday.

Lotsa thanks for my bestie **Kitten Dew **for her awesome title-naming skills! :D (By the way, if you watch/read CCS or TRC manga, go check her fic out :) )

Enjoy! (I just hope it doesn't suck, much) XD

**The Gift of a Lifetime**

_13th January..._

_Tomorrow is my birthday. _

_I can't wait! For the gifts, especially. (I know, very materialistic of me. But stuff are nice__) I'm especially excited to get gifts from __him__. He has been giving me great presents since I was here, five years ago. And it gets better each year. Haha. I can still remember my previous b-day celebrations here._

_It was the year I came back to the earth world after I stayed at Soul Society. Orihime was especially excited for this day. She treated me to a girls day out with her and Tatsuki, Ryo and Michiru. (Chizuru wanted to come too, but Suki didn't let her. Typical Suki __) We went to a movie. Some comedy about… vampires. I think. I can't actually remember much. It __has__ been four years ago. _

_It flattered me that she actually remembered my birthday because we just met the year before. _

_Ichigo was actually a little bit less annoying on that day. I didn't like that so much; I had less excuses to kick him in the shin. _

_I still did though. Without any reason that day. _

_It __was__ my birthday anyway. _

_He didn't give me anything directly to me on that year. But when I went to sleep in his cramped closet, I felt something under my pillow. _

_It was a card. Simple yet thoughtful._

_He was __so__ subtle. Not._

_I'm still keeping it here, between the mattress and the bed, in a file._

* * *

_In the next year, he gave me something directly. I can still remember his red blushing face as he gave me the present; that shy strawberry. Now that I think about it, his face was utterly __adorable__! _

_The small wrapped gift turned to be a purse, shaped like a rabbit's head. Very cute!_

_And it turns out, he had __another__ gift for me._

_He kissed me then. _

_It was shy and brief. His first kiss, I'm guessing. And I teased him a lot for that._

_He didn't know that it was my first kiss too… _

_I told him I loved the purse, but it would be better without the kiss. He blushed furiously at that._

_Secretly, I like the kiss so much better. _

* * *

_My third birthday here was great._

_At school, Orihime gave me chocolates and Ishida gave me a plush. He sewed it himself. Keigo gave me… well, he declared his undying love for me (fountain of tears included). I think he was just high from the sugar he consumed from lunch. He was never serious about that stuff anyway. _

_After school Ichigo pulled me off to that hill overlooking the town. We were alone there. The sun was setting at that time. I remember the vivid warm colours; red, yellow, orange. The grass was still dewy from the slight rain we experienced before. _

_Ichigo crept up behind me and linked a silver chain around my neck. It was a bunny locket. Really cute, very elegant. Even if the locket was kind of difficult to open, I still love it. There was a picture inside. Him and me. Sort of. _

_He took it with his camera on his own, arms stretched out in front of him. The picture shows half of my face and half of his. Only the nose, eyes and hair can be seen. Still, you can tell that we're happy. _

_I kissed him in thanks. He blushed. _

_Several silent moments after, he told me his feelings for me._

_I was surprised. I didn't expect that. I guess Ichigo can have his surprises sometimes._

_I gave him the same thing he gave me on my birthday. _

_No, not a locket. What the heck could __he__ do with a __locket?_

"_I love you too, Ichigo." _

_I think he liked his gift._

* * *

_The fourth birthday gift was the best, hands down!_

_He planned a birthday party surprise for me at Orihime's apartment after school. Everyone was there. Orihime, Tatsuki, Chad, Mizuiro… everyone._

_The atmosphere was loud and fun! Keigo tried to make me drink the spiked punch. Ichigo pulled me away from him. Sigh, he's __way__ too protective sometimes… But that's why I love him so much..._

_Keigo invited us all to play Seven Minutes in Heaven. Having __no__ idea what it was at that time, I played since Orihime urged me on. She winked a playful secret wink at me and placed a finger on her lips. I had absolutely no idea what was going on._

_I turned the bottle and it landed on… Keigo. I saw him rubbing his hands together and a glint in his eyes. Before he could do anything, Ichigo got up and grabbed my hand and hauled me out. _

_He said the game was not safe. Or some crap like that. Geesh._

_I pouted. He rolled his eyes. I said I wanted to have some fun, (told you I knew nothing of this game at that time) but he had to be such a killjoy. He sighed. Then he took me in his arms and kissed me softly, gently, passionately; whispering sweet nothings in my ear. Last time, his kisses were infrequent; with him being the shy strawberry he was. But when he did kiss me, I was on cloud nine._

_"I love you, Rukia."_

_I guess we had our own Seven Minutes in Heaven there._

_I'm sure nothing could beat that present! _

_I can't wait to see what he has in mind for me tomorrow!! _:D

_-Kuchiki Rukia_

* * *

**14th January, 8:30 am**

_Bewoo! Bewoo!_

Rukia woke up to the sound of a noisemaker in her ear. _Bewoo…! _The ribbon from the tube tickled her ear. Groaning, she opened her eyes, only to see the twins and Isshin at the side of her bed. They were grinning like mad.

"Happy birthday, Rukia!!" They yelled simultaneously.

"Wow… this is… unexpected." She smiled at the three Kurosaki. Rukia looked around for Ichigo. She didn't see him. Yuzu shoved a home-made strawberry cake under her nose.

A small birthday surprise in the morning in bed.

And filled with Kurosaki love.

She felt so much at home.

"You really shouldn't have…"

"Make a wish, Rukia-nee!" Yuzu urged.

Rukia smiled brightly and closed her eyes, making a wish before blowing the two flickering candles. Isshin blew his noisemaker. Karin grinned. Yuzu cheered.

They ate the cake in full spirits.

The Kurosaki twins gave Rukia a present each. A novel, _Tropical Love,_ from Yuzu, and a small clock —shaped like an pinkish-white egg that chirps when the alarm is set— from Karin. She grinned. Rukia loved it, a lot. Isshin gave her a huge birthday bear hug.

She loves the Kurosaki family. All of them.

Rukia looked around.

She just wished Ichigo would be here.

Yuzu cleared the plates and went downstairs. Rukia searched for Ichigo in his room. He wasn't there. Smirking to herself, Rukia changed her mind and searched for her birthday gift. He always, _always _kept one present hidden someplace. She started at the closet, then to his bed, then to his desk.

She found none.

'Did he forget?' Rukia thought. 'Even if he _has _been busy with his medic school work, he never forgot all these times. I'll talk to him later.'

She continued her search.

Still nothing.

Rukia saw no hide nor hair of him the whole day. Even Chad knew nothing of his whereabouts. Sighing, she went up to his room. Twilight was descending in Karakura Town. It was a mixture of blues, indigos and purples. It was beautiful.

Then she saw black. Pitch black.

And felt warm hands covering her eyes.

"Guess who?" a familiar voice said. Rukia smiled. He kissed the top of her head. Rukia looked up and saw him.

"Hey, Ichigo."

Ichigo sat beside her on his bed. He smiled. "Happy birthday, Rukia." He pressed a small wrapped box in her petite hands. She grinned happily.

"I thought you forgot! Thanks!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight for a second. She opened the gift happily. It was a small carved box. Instead of the usual rabbits, there were two dolphins and seashells on it. It was beautiful, elegant. A music box, he told her. She wanted to open it. He placed his hand on hers, making her stop. Rukia looked up.

Ichigo smiled. He grasped the back of her head with one hand, and held the side of her jaw. Ichigo kissed her. The kiss was slow, sweet and sensual.

"Ichi… go…" Rukia was slightly in a daze after the liplock ended. She loved his kisses, but tonight's was amazing.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ichigo looked in her eyes as his forehead was pressed onto hers. She saw the intensity in his amber eyes. Rukia blushed slightly in pleasure. "What is it, Ichigo?" He caressed her cheek softly, like velvet.

"Do you love me?"

She moved backwards to get a clearer view of him. She looked at him with a twinge of confusion. "Of course I love you, Ichigo. I love you so much. Why do you ask?"

He shook his head slightly and kissed her lips once more, smiling under her lips.

"Open the box, Rukia."

She opened it. Soft tinkling music played and twirling on a rod… was a ring. It looked like it was a simple golden band. But if she moved it to the light at a certain angle, she could see the words 'Ichigo loves Rukia' engraved on it. Rukia looked intently at Ichigo with a slight confusion in her eyes.

He smiled and said:

"Rukia, will you marry me?"

* * *

_I said yes. _

_I planned the wedding to be on __his__ birthday._

_He said he liked that. _

_Honestly, this beats the birthday surprise by a long shot._

_-Kurosaki Rukia. _

* * *

Sappy? Crappy? Corny and mushy?

You be the judge. XD

The main idea just popped up in my mind during science class… and the whole plot started to form for the rest of the period. And even so, I don't know what does this have in connection with the excretion system in humans. XD Plot bunnies attack me at unexpected times… -grin-

**Reviews Please?**


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